Heather's Workbench - SH 1/72nd Blackburn Skua

[Heather Kay]

4 minutes ago, dov said:

Nice built so far. I will watch it.

Thank you! The link to the site I made earlier mentions several relatively minor errors in the 1/48th kit and how to correct them.

 

I am aware of some minor errors with this kit, but I’ve decided not to worry about the odd misplaced or misshapen panel here and there. What I’ll end up with will look sufficiently like a Skua to satisfy me.

[Beard]

Seeing your progress isn't helping with my resolution not to inflict any Special Hobby kits on myself for a while.

[mick b]

If you can get access to Peter C Smith’s ‘Skua!’ or Matthew Willis’ Skua book there are some original manual illustrations of the luxurious seat and foot rests that the rear gunner had to contend with 

 

Mike

Edited November 1, 2021 by mick b

[Andwil]

On 10/31/2021 at 10:37 PM, Heather Kay said:

The poor old TAG in the back wasn’t given the luxury of a proper cushion and backrest. He was afforded a padded bench, and not even a safety belt.

Must have made a deck landing interesting.

 

AW

[Hamden]

 

This is shaping up nicely Heather looking forward to the next update now

 

    Stay safe             Roger 

[Heather Kay]

9 hours ago, Andwil said:

Must have made a deck landing interesting.

Indeed. If I’m reading it right, the idea was to throw open the rear canopy and brace yourself against various parts of the airframe. A different breed, the guys who flew these contraptions. My hat is doffed.

 

19 minutes ago, Hamden said:

This is shaping up nicely

Thanks Roger! The engine is worrying me slightly, but it’ll be alright in the end. Then it’s painting. My favourite. 😕 

[AdrianMF]

44 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

A different breed

It was rough being a back seater…
 

The gunners in the Hawker Hart and Demon series didn’t have belts but were provided with a safety feature called the “monkey chain” to clip onto their belts to stop them falling out!

 

And IL-2 gunners had to sit on a strap in the rear cockpit, on the other side of the substantial armour plate that protected the pilot and fuel tank from rearward attack. 

[Terry1954]

Late to the party as usual, so slipping in quietly at the back.

 

A Skua build, so a must watch.

A Special Hobby kit. Love them in many ways, but can be quite a challenge, so must watch.

A Heather build, so must watch!

 

Looks like you are doing great so far Heather, love the cockpit work especially.

 

Terry

[Heather Kay]

Hello Terry!

 

*waves in the general direction of Dorset*

 

 

Well, I had hoped I could herd my mojo into doing something constructive over the weekend. Sadly, all I managed was some seam filling and sanding, and joining the cowling halves together.

 

 

While generally tidying things up and doing some further background reading, I realised I ought to open the wing gun ports. Can you see them? Little circles that SH moulded either side of the light? The guns in the Skua were set behind the leading edge skin, firing through the port - naval thinking, harking back to the Wooden Walls, no doubt. That’s a joke, by the way.  Anyway, the shallow etched circles would soon disappear once cleaning up the joins got under way, and they really didn’t look right anyway.

 

 

Drilling horizontally into an angled surface needs thought. Marking the centre with a pointed implement, I first drilled at about 45°, then vertically down, ensuring I didn’t break through the plastic at this stage. Then I could get the drill bit horizontal and could open the hole back into the leading edge. 
 

And that, folks, is the sum total of work on the Skua. 

[AdrianMF]

You are making the Skua look almost attractive with that first photo!

 

Nice work on the gun ports. I didn't realise the Skua had four guns - pretty good armament for a light bomber.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Heather Kay]

1 hour ago, AdrianMF said:

I didn't realise the Skua had four guns - pretty good armament for a light bomber.

As well as fighter, it was a dive bomber. If the pilot could spare the time while diving on a target, he could add some .303 rounds into the mix. There’s a reflector gunsight I’ve got to make and fit before the canopy goes on.

[AdrianMF]

School day time! I'd always assumed the Roc was the fighter of the pair, and the Skua was a pure dive bomber...

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Heather Kay]

I think they were complementary. The Skua is credited with plenty of air-to-air kills, including originally being credited with the first downed German plane of the war. That accolade is now conferred on, of all things, a Fairey Battle!

[heloman1]

Skuas, Skuas, a flightdeck full of Skuas. Looking good Heather, those parts for a twelve year old kit look quite crisp, as do the decals. Skuas and Rocs looked particularly ugly!

I have a theory that until a British aircraft designer took a continental holiday sometime in the 1930's and brought back a  set of French curves for the drawing office, that, the Brits weren't ever going to get way from straight lines.

I'm liking your build.

 

Colin

[Heather Kay]

Ah, so it was a British draughtsman that stole the French curves! That explains a lot about the French aircraft of the time!

[heloman1]

3 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

Ah, so it was a British draughtsman that stole the French curves! That explains a lot about the French aircraft of the time!

Indeed it does... Then we started to get beautiful looking aircraft...

 

Colin

[Terry1954]

5 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

*waves in the general direction of Dorset*

 

*waves back in the general direction of Kent* !

 

Nice work on those gun ports Heather. It's those little touches that make a huge difference. They can after all be very clearly seen on the real thing.

 

Terry

[Heather Kay]

Lumme! Over a month since I last appeared here. 
 

My excuse?

 

 

Getting three of these things finished. (If you want to see more, click the pic and visit the Flickr gallery.) They’re off to their new owner on Thursday this week. That’s cleared another part of the logjam that had developed on the paying work bench due to physical and mental health, life, and pandemics. One more part-finished job, then I can start on the backlog of new commissions. *sigh*

 

Anyway, I’ve given myself the rest of the year off. I am assessing my life-work balance, and realising I need a bit more work to happen. A good old clear-up around the bench, get rid of clutter, and spend some quality time with a plastic kit or two. High on the list, obviously, is the Skua. It would be good to complete before the year end, so it can be included in my 2021 Yearbook.

 

So, that’s why I’ve been quiet for so long.

[heloman1]

Heather, the carriage looks exquisite and far outdoes the build on my meagre layout!

The Skua, only a mother Skua could love her young.

Regarding the Sea Fox, I may have an old Matchbox kit somewhere in my stash, which I will never build. You are welcome to it, quite how I would get it to you is another matter. I'm at the bottom of Africa, I sat the bottom, because that is where the poo starts plus, our postal system is 'compromised!

I plan a UK trip to the 60th IPMS UK celebrations at Telford. I could then post or connect with you.

 

I see you make colour notes on the instructions. I build Tamiya race bikes , it's a must in these builds.

 

Colin

[Heather Kay]

29 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

I plan a UK trip to the 60th IPMS UK celebrations at Telford. I could then post or connect with you.

 

I see you make colour notes on the instructions. I build Tamiya race bikes , it's a must in these builds.

If the pandemic situation calms down, I think that could be a plan. One thing I’ve missed this past two years is the regular calendar of meetings and exhibitions we would attend. They broke up the year, gave us a chance for a short break away from home and so on. I had hoped this year would see it begin to revive, but it would be really nice for 2022 to see it all open up again - to some extent at least.

 

Oh, and thank you for the kind offer. I have found the BM collective is such a generous and friendly crew. It gladdens the heart.

 

The colour notes are because my short-term memory bank refuses to match the appropriate colour with its assigned letter. Making the note means I don’t have to keep flipping back and forth in the instruction sheet to remind myself!

[heloman1]

I'm away from hoe for the next four weeks, I can only then look for it. You might have to remind me!

It's the only way with colour numbers, best to add a note.

 

Colin

[Heather Kay]

That grinding noise you hear is my mojo coming back to life.

 

First up, let’s make a Bristol Pegasus!

 

Bristol Pegasus IIIM.3 radial - Fairey Swordfish II -Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa.. by edk7, on Flickr

 

It should look something like this one, on a Fairey Swordfish.

 

 

The instructions. The ring of cylinders, exhaust pipes and the carburettor cooling inlets (I can never remember what they are. Someone will elucidate shortly.) are provided as resin casts. There’s a triangular PE part, which represents the exhaust collector ring support structure. Plus the styrene bits for the cowling.

 

 

Special Hobby thoughtfully provide 20 exhaust pipes, so there’s a couple spare in case the carpet monster is peckish. The pipes are not the same shape as the drawing, and because I have now studied a photo of a real one, I realise the orientation in the drawing is all wrong as well. Anyway, fine tweezers, bright light, good magnification and a steady hand is all I need. Three out of four will have to do, then.

 

 

With all the exhausts in, and sort of aligned properly - it’s hidden in the cowling, so not all that visible - time for the support frame. Now, when I built the Roc, I had no end of problems getting the frame to fit. No change here. To be honest, it doesn’t fit, won’t fit, and is fit for the bin. Back to the prototype photos, then, and see if I can make something suitable from fine brass rod instead.

 

 

It was at this point I realised the valve rods were missing. I carefully drilled pilot holes around the gear case and inserted lengths of 0.5mm brass rod.

 

 

Now, to the support frame. Careful study of photos reveals it’s a mite more complex than the etched triangle SH give us. Three rods run from the gear case, at let’s say 12, 4 and 8 o'clock, which support the exhaust ring. In turn, supporting these are smaller rods springing from either side of the adjacent cylinder block and meeting the main rods near the outside of the collector. For this, I chopped up 0.3mm brass rod, and arranged it as you see.

 

I think I’ve begun to lose the plot, but it’s good practice for when I come to detail up the basic engines supplied in the Matchbox Stranraer…

 

Anyway, it’s a lot more like the real thing now. Once the CA has hardened, I’ll set about painting it, and see about attaching it to the airframe. Oh, and work out how the intake horns fit.

 

More later, I hope.

 

 

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

That grinding noise you hear is my mojo coming back to life.

 

 

I thought I heard something whistling overland from an East North East direction!

 

And what a treat to see a tiny Bristol Pegasus being created this way.

 

Great stuff Heather!

 

Terry

[Navy Bird]

Nice work on the Pegasus! The extra details will add quite a bit to its appearance. When I built my copy of this kit, the triangular support frame fit inside the cowling - I wonder what was different? I don't recall modifying it other than bending up the braces in the middle and bending down the tabs at each apex of the triangle. Weird.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Heather Kay]

 

Not much more achieved so far. Domestic life things this afternoon, so I’ve managed to paint the engine and effectively hide all my hard work from this morning! 

 

Those intake trumpets. They’re very nice polyurethane castings, with open ends. SH did the same trick for the external exhaust, too. The problem is, it’s down to the modeller to work out how to fit them. Effectively, they are cranked so the long rear part sits along the inside of the cowling. Unfortunately, the part is too wide to fit through the cylinders. I ended up chamfering the hidden rear part so it would slide between the cylinders and allow me to wiggle them into position and hold with a drop of CA.

 

I will attempt a dry brush metallic around in there, just to bring out some highlights. With the cowling and engine now attached, it’ll be masked by bunging some soft foam in the front.

 

By the way, I forgot to say I drilled the engine block out - almost down the centre - to 1.2mm diameter. I will replace the short prop shaft stub in the kit with something longer, so the propellor may have a chance of sitting at the correct orientation to the front on the cowling.